Celebrities are people who have political views and there is nothing wrong with them sharing those opinions.
Some pretty novel ideas in there (three, I believe), no?
Unlike those people, however, I do not subscribe to the notion that celebrities ought to stick to entertaining us and remain silent on politics. While the lives of celebrities are quite a bit removed from those of the average citizen, at the end of the day, they are still citizens of the US. Whether to critique or support the opinions of others or rally people behind or in opposition to a politician or a piece of legislation, civilians have the right to speak their mind. Celebrities do as well. Being a world famous movie star, a television or social media sensation, or an icon of the music industry does not remove the right of these people to share their opinions with the world.
That said, just as celebrities share with civilians the right to share their opinions, like civilians, they also ought to be prepared for criticism of those opinions. Their right to speak their mind does not insulate them from criticism when they say shitty things. And celebrities often say Very Shitty Things. Azaelia Banks has said many shitty things. Ted Nugent has built a second career out of saying shitty things. Mel Gibson famously opened his mouth back in 2006 and out poured shitty anti-Semitic things.
Nicole Kidman can now add her name to the list of celebrities who have said shitty things:
The actress refused to say which candidate she was voting for in the presidential election, saying she prefers to stay out of giving her opinions on politics.
“He’s now elected and we as a country need to support whoever is the president,” she said on The Victoria Derbyshire Show.
“We need to support whoever is the president”.
Uh huh.
So we need to support POTUS45, a man who:
- is accused of raping a 13-year-old girl
- supports the use of torture
- routinely lies
- consistently refers to the media as crooked and dishonest
- is accused of sexually assaulting multiple women
- brags about sexually assaulting women
- founded and operated a fraudulent so-called institution of higher learning
- has praised dictators like Vladimir Putin, Saddam Hussein, Kim Jong Un, Bashar al-Assad, Muammar Gaddafi
- supports a Muslim registry
- does not pay his bills
- is deeply misogynist
- is an anti-Muslim bigot
- has attacked the judiciary
- is deeply racist
- is an ableist piece of shit
- has highly questionable, bordering on non-existent ethics
- is a bully
- enjoys the support of the KKK
- added two white nationalists/supremacists to his Cabinet
…and that’s not an exhaustive list.
I’d love to see an explanation from Nicole Kidman as to why I and all other USAmericans are supposed to overlook his moral and ethical failings, his attacks on the First Amendment, his attacks on the judiciary, and his multiple forms of bigotry. We’re just supposed to ignore all of that because the president is to be supported no matter what because…reasons?!
I still believe that celebrities are free to share their opinions. I won’t tell them they don’t have the right to do so. I will tell them when they are sharing shitty opinions, and boy oh boy, Nicole Kidman has expressed a SHITTY OPINION.
I have never liked her, not even when she was married to Cruise. She has always come across as frosty and stoic in her roles and I just didn’t like her. This ain’t making me like her any more than I did before, I guess.
Hi, Tony!
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